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Recently, a North Carolina teen dropped out of school to try for a career playing guitar hero. But is there enough money in gaming to really make a living?
Guys like Marcos Gonzales know what it takes to be a professional gamer. He used to be on a team sponsored by Best Buy, and it would pay his travel expenses to go from tournament to tournament.
"I just loved going out of town every two to three months, seeing new states and there are no parents around. You can do whatever you want," he said.
He and three of his friends once earned fourth place in a Halo competition in Major League Gaming. What's the biggest cash prize he's ever won?
"The biggest prize we ever won was $2,000, which is $500 each," he said.
Hours of training every week for that? Not a lot of money. Granted, this was a few years ago, and prize pots have gone up. Yahoo Tech says gamers nowadays can earn up to $80,000 a year, but $25,000 is more common, and most gamers would play anyway, so they might as well try to make a little money.
Eventually, Gonzales had to quit the life of a professional gamer because there wasn't enough money in it. He'd love to give it another shot, but he doesn't recommend anyone try to make their living playing video games.
"I would say stay in school and still play the game. You can still play the game after school," he said.
Aside from Major League Gaming, there's the Midnight Gaming Championship, which tours the country. Their big draw is a game called Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Affinity Sports Marketing Regional Event Manager Ricardo Colon said, "That's probably our most competitive game where those kids could consider themselves pro. They just don't get the benefits of the money that the other professional leagues do."
Colon says they don't offer a lot of money. But, they're not trying to appeal to elite gamers. They appeal to the gaming community at large, like the guys playing Guitar Hero 3 in their brother-in-law's recreation room. He says anyone trying to make a living off that game may be wasting their time.
"There are not many very big money pot tournaments. There are probably more Guitar Hero 3 tournaments than any other tournament in the country right now just because it's such a popular game," he said.
The biggest prize will be given out at the final World Cyber Games in Cologne, Germany, in November. They'll give nearly half a million dollars away in cash awards, along with other prizes. But, that's split up between 14 game tournaments, and prizes get divided again among members of a winning team.
The winner of the U.S. Open Virtual Fighter 5 tournament won $700.
As for that kid who dropped out of school to play Guitar Hero, maybe his parents didn't make such a bad move. Blake Peebles is reportedly doing better with a tutor than he was at school.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
